History of the School of Education Graduate Student Community Organization

The journey to an advanced degree can be a lonely trip, with potholes, desolate stretches, hidden curves, and long detours. To many students, the road to a graduate degree from the UM School of Education seemed particularly foggy and tortuous, and in the autumn of 2001 a group of such students, with the support of the Office of Dean, got together to start an organization to provide fuel, direction, and company for the weary traveler.

The call for such an organization was echoed and amplified (indeed made un-ignorable) by three events: the 2001 Cultural Audit, the first ever school-wide GradShare, and the Building Bridges Conference sponsored by the CSHPE. First, the Cultural Audit of the School of Education highlighted the need for more interaction and communication across programs and people in the SOE. Second, the highly successful inaugural GradShare, led by Jason Margolis (then a 3 rd year doctoral student in Teacher Education) was held on November 6, 2001 and captured the energy and desire of students for more of such events as well as greater opportunity for making connections among students and faculty. Finally, the Building Bridges conference illuminated the artificial divide between K-12 and higher education research, and called for more sharing across for this schism. Thus, out of the momentum created by these events, the Student Organization Planning Committee (SOPC) was born.

The first meeting was held on December 12, 2001. Those present at the creation were (in alphabetical order): Jane Coggshall (FARP), Mark Hager (CPEP), Abigail Jewkes (LLL), Katie Kramer (LLL), Pamela Kittel (LLL), Jason Margolis (TE), Imani Masters (CURR), Melis Michel (TE), Jennifer Mueller (TE), Cynthia Overton (LT), Dr. Annemarie Palincsar (then Associate Dean of Student Affairs), Charlotte Ratzlaff (TE), and Baohui Zhang (LT). At this meeting, they settled on four goals for a student organization:

1. To create a school-wide graduate student community.
2. To support the academic and personal lives and well being of graduate students.
3. To support students in the process of navigating the SOE.
4. To make more explicit the mores and procedures in place in the SOE.

Melis Michel, Mark Hager, and Jane Coggshall shared responsibility as co-coordinators of the planning committee for the winter term of 2002. The Associate Dean supported this effort through hourly compensation for the coordinators. The following students were selected as contacts for students in their respective programs: Heidi Grunwald (CSHPE), Shari Steadman (JPEE), Mark Hager (CPEP), Cynthia Overton (Ed Tech/Science Ed), Jane Coggshall (FARP), Abigail Jewkes (LLL/Early Childhood/Special Ed.), and Jennifer Mueller (Teacher Education).

In late March of 2002, the SOPC held a Pre-Conference Presentation "Extravaganza" (during which students were able to practice their paper or poster discussions for annual conferences such as AERA) and a school-wide Community Potluck at the end of the semester. The SOPC also helped organize a Take a Professor to Lunch program (which allowed students to take a faculty member, who is not in their program, out for a meal paid for by the Dean's Office).

The SOPC changed its name to the Graduate Student Community Organization (GSCO) late in the winter semester of 2002. Organizers chose the word "community," as opposed to an "assembly," "council," or "association," because of the human connections and shared responsibility that the word implies, and because of their belief that schools with strong communities of practice are more effective and humane than schools without. The 2001 Cultural Audit found that three key values are central to the culture of the School of Education: "autonomy, entrepreneurial spirit, and excellence." The founders of the GSCO believe that these values are not antithetical to community and can be practiced without marginalizing students or hindering excellence. Etzioni (1993) says it simply: "people are better off when they combine their self-advancement with investment in their community" (p. 124). That said, the GSCO does not intend to impose "community" on those who wish to remain autonomous, but merely provide it as a resource, recognizing that by far the best things about graduate school are other graduate students.

Since 2002, the mandate for the GSCO has expanded (after much internal debate). It is now serving as an information nexus for students as well as a representative group from which students are selected to serve on School of Education governance committees such as the Executive Committee and the Graduate Affairs Committee. In May of 2003, the GSCO approved a Constitution and By-Laws and plans to hold elections in the spring of 2004 to ensure that it is indeed representative of the whole graduate student community. It also serves as an umbrella student organization for such groups as the Social Justice and Educational Equity Committee.

In the 2002-2003 school year, Dr. Jeffrey Mirel took over for Dr. Palincsar as the faculty advisor to the GSCO (while Becki Spangler of the Dean's Office continued to provide her incredible support, enthusiasm, and energy). Throughout the year, under the co-coordination of Eric Fretz (CPEP) and Jane Coggshall (FARP), the GSCO held both a fall and winter semester GradShare, a well-attended Ice Cream Social to kick off the winter semester, and a summer softball game.

The students of the GSCO give of their time and energy to these efforts because on the long road to a Masters or PhD, multiple rest stops with good company and good advice and information can make all the difference. The GSCO intends to provide many such stops in the future.